


Evil Never Cries

by Shinehollow



Series: Evil never Cries, and Devils never Die [1]
Category: Devil May Cry, Resident Evil - All Media Types
Genre: Blood and Gore, M/M, Suicidal Thoughts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-09
Updated: 2017-04-22
Packaged: 2018-05-25 15:07:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 10,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6199777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shinehollow/pseuds/Shinehollow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zombies and devils, agents and hunters.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

 "Who are you, exactly?"

Dante was looking over the top of his magazine, staring at the woman who stood in front of his desk. She looked about as old as Nero, with shoulder length blonde hair and two gun hostlers that the man had noticed as soon as she walked in. "Answer the question, and I may decided to work for you."  _If you have enough money for me to pay the rent, that is._ "Agent Sherry Birkin," She said, staring at Dante. He was surprised she hadn't taken a look around his shop in fear or awe. Demon heads stabbed to walls with swords, broken floorboards, flickering lights... it sure wasn't a happy place.

"Got the password?" Dante asked, lowering his magazine. Nero, who sat on the couch under the loft, opened his mouth to say something, but Sherry looked Dante dead in the eye and said,"Devil's never cry." Dante put his magazine on his desk, and glanced at Trish, who was standing by Lady. Both women look surprised that this visitor knew the password while most who tried to hire the devil hunter did not."How did you guess that?" 

"I didn't."

"How do you know that, then?"

"I have ways," Sherry replied, looking slightly uncomfortable. She looked back at Dante. "Well, are you going to take the job?" Dante studied her for a moment before sighing, "Yeah, sure, why not. You said you were an agent, right? So you probably have the money." _Hopefully._

"Well, now that's all taken care of," said Nero, getting up off the couch and standing beside Dante's chair."Are you going to tell us what this job is?" Sherry shot Nero a look that Dante read as  _I was getting to that_. "Well, in a town nearby, something... happened-" Dante raised an eyebrow at that, surprised that she didn't tell him what when she was the one hiring him "- and now it's overrun by both zombies and demons."

Lady let out a low whistle. "Zombies? I'd say you were lying, but I've heard what happened in Raccoon City." Sherry just nodded. Dante got up, turning around to grab Rebellion from the wall. "Well, looks like we got ourselves a job. Lady, Nero, you coming?" "Of course!" Nero said, while Lady nodded. "We're probably the best for this kind of thing anyway."

 

"Oh, you won't be alone!" Sherry said, holding out her hands. "One of my friends and two of my coworkers are there. They'll help you." Sherry turned to walk away, but stopped and said over her shoulder,"You know my friend and one of my coworkers already, Dante. Chris thought I should let you know."

Chris. The only Chris Dante could recall knowing was Chris Redfield, a member of the BSAA whom Dante had fought alongside twice when, somehow, multiple timelines were falling apart. The coworker... Well, if Sherry was an agent, she might have been referring to Leon Kennedy, who had fought with the devil hunter when the timelines where falling apart a second time. Shaking his head, Dante started to walk out the door. "Come on, slowpokes. Last one there has to pay my bills!" Nero just smirked. "You're on, old man."


	2. With Guns and Swords

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The city is worse then they expected, but Dante's still excited for many reasons. And then they hear gunshots.

 Nero stood staring at the buildings in the distance. Even from here, he could see flames and smell a hint of the rotting flesh that came from the zombies. Suddenly, a car door slammed behind him, and Nero almost choked on his laughter as he heard Dante's muttering. "Why am I here last? I left first." Turning to Sherry, Dante said, louder, "Okay, why are we so far away? Can't we just ram into the zombies with our cars?" 

"Some of us don't want to damage our cars, idiot," Lady said, walking over and standing in front of Dante. "Also, I have a motorcycle, not a car." Dante just shrugged. "You still could've hit zombies with it." Lady opened her mouth to argue, but Sherry interrupted. "There's a blockade, anyway, and I doubt they'd let us in, since we're not resistant to the virus." Dante looked at her. "So, there's a virus, eh? Well, that's even better! My blood doesn't allow me to get sick!" Sherry opened her mouth to say something, but a gust of wind blow by, bringing with it the stench from the city.

Dante coughed, waving his hand in front of his face. Trish also look disgusted. "Well, there's also that," Trish muttered, coughing."Enhanced senses." Sherry just stared at them, and started to walk off. "Follow me. We should be able to get to the outskirts of the city this way." Dante just clapped his hands together, still looking disgruntled from the smell, but said cheerfully, "Lead the way."

 

* * *

 

"All there's been is forest, forest, and more forest!" Nero complained, crossing his arms. "When do we finally meet something? Or someone?"

"Oh, we're almost there," Sherry said, pulling out the little device she had kept referring to to see if they were on track. "Only about-" She was cut of by a loud bang, one that caused Nero and Sherry to start. Dante just laughed. "That was pathetic, kid." Nero just glared at him as Sherry straightened herself.

"That could be my coworkers, or the BSAA. Be on the lookout. Zombies or demons could be nearby." She pulled out her gun and started to creep deeper into the woods. Dante clapped his hands together and said,"Finally, we get some action here!" He ran off, earning a glare from Sherry, but he ignored her and pulled Rebellion of his back and charged. Nero exchanged a glance with Trish before following him, hand on the Red Queen.

* * *

This day had turned bad to worse for Leon, like most zombie invasions proved to be. He and Helena had been sent here to investigate a strange man who had been seen around town, muttering to himself about B.O.W.s and laughing about how fun it would be to send this world into Hell. Not a minute after they had arrived, they were set upon by zombies and beasts that were obviously _not_ zombies, beasts which even Chris, who they met here, didn't know the names of. Before Leon could ask why the BSAA agent was here, though, they had, again, been set upon by zombies and beasts. It was honestly getting old.

A horrible, nails-against-a-chalkboard screech jolted Leon from his thoughts. Helena glanced at Leon. "What the hell was _that?_ " Leon shrugged, holding up his gun a shooting what looked similar to a lizard wearing armor. "Just hope it was something dying, not coming to life."

Suddenly, Chris, who was aiming at a zombie from a stack of boxes, stopped and let out a small sound of surprise when the zombie was shot several times and collapsed. The sound of footsteps echoed from the alleyway the place where the zombie was shot from. Chris and Leon both aimed their guns at the alley. A laugh came from the alley, a familiar sound that set Leon on edge, for a reason he was not willing to think about. 

"Honestly, do you _really_ want to shoot me, Chris? I just saved your ass. I would prefer a 'thank you' than a shot to the head." Chris leaped off the boxes, lowering his gun. Leon didn't lower his. He still felt on edge. Even though he knew who shot the zombie, he still felt like taking off the man's head with a few bullets. 

"Dante?" Chris asked, staring at him. The man walked out the shadows of the alley, pale blue eyes glinting and his mouth set in a cocky smile. "In the flesh."


	3. Devil in Blue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I gave up at trying to summarize. I obviously suck at it. Sometimes there might be summaries, since I have one for the final chapter, but otherwise, don't expect one.

Dante smiled at Chris, who still stared at him. “What? Looks like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“Sherry told me she was going to go hire you, but I didn’t believe you got here that quickly,” Chris said, walking over. Dante heard gunshots behind him, meaning Nero, Sherry, Trish and Lady had caught up. “What can I say? It’s in my blood.” He looked over Chris’ shoulder to Leon. “Hey, Leon-” Before he could say anything else, he heard the gunshot and then felt piercing pain in his forehead. Falling over, Dante let out a small, exasperated sigh. _What I wouldn’t give to stop being stabbed and shot fatally around people who don’t know my heritage._

Landing on the ground, Dante waited a bit, blinking away the dizziness, and then put his hand over the wound. “I said I didn’t want to get shot in the head,” he growled, standing up with the bullet in his hand. Dante wiped his forehead and then dropped his hand, dropping the bullet as well.

“Sorry. It was more impulse then anything” Leon muttered, dropping his gun. He turned to the woman behind him. “This is Dante. He’s a demon.” Dante shrugged and said,“You’re half right. I don’t get it. Even the people who know I’m a half demon _still_ call me a full demon anyway.” He shook his head, pulling Rebellion off his back. “While I’d love to have introductions, it seems that we’ve been surrounded.” Dante gestured to the demons and zombies that he sensed inching closer.

Leon swore, holding up his guns. Chris and the woman did the same. Nero walked out of the alley, glaring at Dante. “First you run off, and now you get us surrounded. What else are you going to do, get one of us killed?” Dante smiled. “Better uncover that arm, kid. They’ll find out sooner or later, and your snatching abilities might be useful here.” Nero just scoffed and rolled up his right sleeve, which he had kept down since the shop. Both Chris and Sherry had noticed Nero’s Devil Bringer, but instead of telling them exactly what it was, Nero just sighed. “I’ll explain later. Now it’s time to clean up this mess!”

* * *

 

Dante stepped back, looking at the now disappearing bodies of zombies, Assaults and Blades. “That was easy! Send me something else! Something stronger!” he yelled, putting Rebellion on his back. “It’s been a while since I’ve went full power!” Nero just sighed and said, “You’re giving away our location, old man.” He turned, walking towards a roofed bus, and said, “We need to find the cause of this, and quick.”

Trish rolled her eyes. “Obviously. You don’t think we’ve figured that out ourselves?” She began to follow Nero, but Leon interrupted. “We need to leave this place, now. We don’t have time to find the cause of this.” Dante just turned to him and said, “We will leave, _Scott_. Right after I do my job.” Leon glared at him. “Don’t call me Scott.” Dante turned away shrugging. “Well, you shot me last time I called you Leon, so Scott it is.Unless you want me to call you Kennedy, but that’s way less annoying.” Leon just scoffed, but didn’t say anything.

Dante clapped his hands together. “Well, since I see no more objections, we should split up. Not alone, of course,” He added, seeing Nero turn to walk off again. “As three groups. I’ll go with Leon and, uh-” “Helena,” Helena said, staring at Dante with a hand on her gun. “Right. Helena. Nero, you can go with Trish and Sherry-” Nero just sighed sadly, but nodded.

Dante turned to Chris. “That leaves you with Lady.” “Hey!” Lady objected, walking over. “How come it’s just the two of us? Nero and Sherry can probably do better as a pair than us. Maybe even _you_ could go alone.” “Well,” Dante said, crossing his arms, “you really doubt your abilities, Lady? If so, give me the Kalina Ann and go. I’ve wanted to shoot something with that for a long time, actually.” Lady just stared at him, and then shrugged. “Fine. He better not hold me back, though.”

Nero just scoffed, “If everything’s fine and dandy, can we go now?” Dante laughed, “Sure, go. Shoot a charged shot from the Blue Queen skyward if you need help or if you find anything.” Nero nodded. “Will do, _sir_ ,” Nero said with a mock bow and started again towards the bus. Dante just stared after him. Nero’s pride was something he got from his father, he was sure of it. Vergil’s pride had gotten him killed (or nearly) twice. He just hoped the same didn’t happen to Nero.

“Can you stop staring after that kid and get moving?" Dante turned to Leon with a smirk. "Sure, Scott." Leon turned away and called over his shoulder,"Don't make me shoot you again." Helena just sighed, glanced at Dante, and started to follow Leon. Dante just smiled again and started walking after them.

* * *

"Well, this is shitty."

The only things that Dante had seen for twenty minutes were zombies and demons. No survivors, no clue to what caused this to happen. It pissed him off greatly.  _All I want is to get my money and go buy some pizza._

"Don't worry. I've been through stuff like this multiple times," Leon said. "It starts to get predictable after the second time." Dante just mumbled, "I hope I don't have to go through this a second time." 

Before any of them could take a step forward, however, a familiar feeling washed over Dante. For a second, he thought it was Nero, but then he realized that it was more familiar than that. It was something that brought him back to a house in the country side, before his mother was killed, his brother lost, and his world went to Hell for several years. He turned around in time to see some translucent blue swords, which looked like the Force Edge, fly by his face. A wicked grin broke out on Dante's face. He took a couple steps forward, pulling out his guns. "Well, well, well. Here's something I never thought I'd see again. Or should I say, _someone_."

A blue streak jumped down from the building behind him. He stood straight, stared at Dante and said, "Why, I never thought I'd see you again either. Imagine that." Dante just laughed. "I guess we really are twins." At that, the man flashed his pale blue eyes at Dante. Dante pointed Ebony at him and finished, "Vergil."


	4. Brothers

Vergil just glared at Dante, and muttered, “Right. I’m related to you.” Dante laughed again, ignoring the Assaults and Frosts he sensed coming over to them. “I’ll have you know, your son feels the same way.” His brother met Dante’s gaze with something that, if Dante didn’t know better, would be a start. “My son?” Dante just shrugged and said, “I guess he doesn’t know.”

“We don’t know either. Why don’t you try to explain something before shit like this happens?” Leon snapped, and Vergil looked over at him. “I remember you…” Vergil whispered, but he shook his head and drew Yamato from its sheath. Dante smiled, “I was hoping for this.” He pulled Rebellion off his back and turned to Leon and Helena. “You guys take care of the company. I’ll see if I can figure out how my brother’s still alive and why he’s here.”Helena opened her mouth to argue, but the Devil Hunter had already lunged at his brother. Helena sighed, and then they both pulled out their guns and started to fight the demons.

* * *

Nero sighed, putting his hands behind his head, contemplating how to tell Sherry about his arm. She had been glancing at it from time to time, seemingly worried that Nero might suddenly attack them. She was staring at it now, and Nero just sighed louder. “Long story short, my arm got injured saving my girlfriend and one day I woke up to this.” Sherry still stared at it. “Why?” She asked, relaxing a little. Nero shrugged and answered,“It’s a manifestation of my demonic blood. My Sparda blood.”

Trish, who had walked ahead of them, turned and said, “Will you two be quiet? I heard something up there.” She pointed to a breaking walk way above them. Nero titled his head, not hearing anything other than the crackling of flames. Then he heard a woman’s voice say,“Did you hear those footsteps?” A man’s voice replied, “I don’t have your hearing, woman. So, no.” Sherry also seemed to hear the voice, because she got a surprised look on her face. She walked over to stand next to Trish and called, “Jake? Is that you?” “Sherry? What the hell are you doing here?” A man jumped down to the walkway in front of Nero. A woman followed.

The man was about as old as Nero, and looked physically stronger as well. _He’s probably not a demon, though_ , Nero thought smugly. Jake turned to Sherry. “Well? Are you going to answer my question or not?” Sherry just gestured around them. “Right, the B.O.W.s,” Jake just muttered, and then turned to look at Nero. “Who’s he? And what the hell is going on with his arm?” Nero just sighed again. “Long story.” 

A gun shot nearby made Nero turn his head. Trish looked off in the same direction, and then turned to Nero and said, "Sounds like a hunting firearm, like Dante's Coyote-A." Nero walked over. "How far away?" "Maybe a block or two northwest," Trish told him. "Do you want to go help?" Nero gave her a look. "Of course! I mean, he _did_ tell us to split up, but he didn't say we couldn't help."

The woman who had come with Jake. looked over at them. "Wait, what are we doing?" She asked, sounding a little confused. Jake sighed."Oh yeah, you. This is Sparrow," he said, pointing at her,"I found her here, and now she won't leave me alone." Sparrow waved at him, the gauntlets on her hands ending like claws on her fingers.

Nero started running off, leaping over holes in the walk way. "Come on! I don't want to explain! You see once we get there." Trish and Sherry started following quickly behind him. Sparrow exchanged a glance with Jake, who just shrugged, and then followed as well.

* * *

 

"Dammit!"

Vergil took the blunt of Dante's sword swing in his side. Landing on the ground, he drew a heavy breath. He hated how _weak_ he was. Even weaker then the humans fighting the demons and zombies behind Dante, he would suspect. Vergil blamed that stupid Order scientist. **_Not me? Don't lie to yourself, spawn of Sparda._**

Vergil tried to get rid of that voice when his brother lunged at him again. He stepped on Vergil's right arm, disabling his sword arm, and then placed the blade of Rebellion by his neck. The Darkslayer looked up the blade and into Dante's blue eyes. "You're stronger." "You're weaker," Dante said, crouching down to get closer to Vergil's face. "Verg, what the hell happened for these past ten years? I thought you were dead. You should be dead."  ** _You wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for that scientist taking your body from me._** The memories of the torture he experienced in Hell and in the labs beneath Castle Fortuna came back to him, and he tried to force them away. Vergil groaned,"I don't want to talk about it." 

Dante just stared at him, and then lifted his head. "Well, it seems that there are too many zombies and demons here then mere humans can handle. Wanna put off this fighting to help them?" Vergil heard the silent plea in his words and he wasn't even sure that Dante knew it was there.  _Maybe we can be brothers again, just for this._

_Of course he still clings to an eight-year old's dream._

_Do I?_

Dante stood up, getting off Vergil's arm. He stood up, rubbing his side from where Rebellion had connected. Dante had turned away from him, walking towards the humans still fighting, despite the blood flowing from their wounds.  _ **You have free control of your arm. You can finish what you started. Kill him.**_ Vergil just shook his head.  _No. I didn't even want to kill him in the first place. I just fought him to test his strength._

_I'm not your slave any more, either. I am the master of my own body now. So stop trying to control me, Mundus._

_**Pity,**_ was all the demon emperor said.

"You coming?" Dante's question dragged Vergil from his mental war with Mundus. He looked concerned, which both angered and surprised Vergil.  _I tried to kill you and you_ still  _care. Human weakness._  

Vergil walked over, pulling out Yamato again. "Miss an opportunity to destroy Mundus' armies? Do you think I'm crazy?" Dante just smiled and pat him on the back. "Now _there's_ the Vergil I know." He ran over to the woman, stabbing a Frost that was sneaking up on her. Vergil gathered his energy and created some Summoned Swords.

 _The path to revenge begins_ __now.


	5. Father

Trish stood before a hole in the building, staring down at the fighting going on below. It was easy to see Dante, despite the numbers of demons and zombies. He was leaping around, darting from one thing to the next, a storm of sword slashes and gun shots. A man in blue was fighting as well, his tactics less reckless than Dante’s, but still more psychical then most humans would fight like.

Nero came up next to her and stared down. “That’s Yamato!” He yelled after a minute, causing Trish to start. “Wait, don’t _you_ have Yamato? Then how the hell-” Before she could finish, Nero leaped down from the building, landing on a crashed bus before jumping down to fight. Trish let out a exasperated sigh as Sherry, Jake and Sparrow ran over.

“What happened?” Sherry asked, walking over. “Well, they seemed to be doing alright, but Nero noticed something of his and jumped down into the fighting,” Trish said, shaking her head. “He’s as reckless as Dante, but with less of a chance of surviving a fatal wound.” Jake walked over, leaning over the edge to survey the area. “So we have to go down there if we don’t want him to get killed?” Trish sighed.“Exactly.”

“Let’s go then!” Trish turned in time to see Sparrow run by and leap off the building, hitting the ground with a jarring thud. Sherry and Jake winced. “That outta hurt,” Jake muttered, leaping off the building. He landed on the bus and pulled out his gun. Sherry followed. Trish shook her head again, leaping off the building as well.

* * *

Vergil hadn’t had a fight like this for a long time. The only one that came to mind was his final fight against Dante around twenty years ago. But his brother then wasn’t anything compared to his brother now.

Dante was faster, and his swings and more power behind them. He dodged blows quicker than before, and he seemed to know where to strike next. It was quite jarring to see his brother, obvious he had become the stronger Son of Sparda.

**_You’re jealous. Idiot. Has that failed quest for power taught you nothing?_ **

_I won’t deny that. But I said get out of my head. Are you stupider than you look?_

**_Why should I leave? It’ll be fun watching you go mad._ **

Vergil just scoffed, generating Spiral Swords around himself. He launched them out at a Frost while he cut off the head of a zombie. Dante might be stronger than him, but Vergil still wasn’t going to be shown up by his little brother.

After killing an Assault, Vergil looked around. There seemed to be no more hostiles left, which left Vergil annoyed.  _I want a fight, not an interruption._ Dante called over to him, "Hey, Verg! Come here, there are some people I want you to meet!" Vergil scoffed. "Do not call me by that nickname. The last time you called me "Verg" was when you were eight. Has nothing honestly changed?" Dante smirked. "What? Prefer Vergie? I remember calling you that when I was, what, four?" Vergil glowered, while Dante laughed.  

"Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, introducing you." Dante put his arm around a woman's shoulders. She had some differences, but she looked almost like... _Mother_. "This is Trish," Dante said, "I know she looks like Mom, but, long story short, she works with me now." Vergil just stared at her. Mundus chuckled.  ** _I see you've met Trish. Met her again, I should say. Do you remember her from when you were mine?_** _Shut your mouth._

"Next up, Nero." Dante walked over and pat a young man on the back. Vergil felt a twist in his gut. His white hair and pale blue eyes were an obvious mark of his bloodline, but he could sense something else about the kid. He walked over to him and grabbed Nero's right arm, looking at it. Nero pulled it back. "Hey, what the hell was that? It's my goddamn arm. I'm not going to explain a third time today how I got it." Vergil stared at him, and snarled, "This is what my son has become? A reckless fool? I would think you're Dante's son if I didn't know better."

Nero started. "W-what did you say?"  Dante stared at Vergil. "I was going to tell him someday, but here you go ruining everything. Must that be your thing?" _**Even I didn't know you had a son. Interesting.**_  The man standing behind Dante let out a small sound. "Do we have to talk about this here? It's too open for my tastes." Dante looked at them. "Yeah, we'll settle this father and son stuff later." He put a hand on the man's back, pushing him forward. He also pushed forward another woman who was standing beside the man. "No need to be shy! We're all in this together after all!

"These are agents Leon S. Kennedy and Helena Harper. You should know Leon. He fought with us once." Vergil nodded. "I remember you. With the insane amount of guns." Leon stared at him. "And you hated them." 

Dante put an arm around Vergil's shoulders. "And this is my older twin, Vergil. He's tried to kill me a couple times, but hopefully he'll help us out here." Vergil glared at him. "Who said I was helping you?" Dante smiled and said,"I did. Come on Verg!"

Dante ran ahead a bit, turned and said,"Hey, Trish. Maybe, since it seems like Nero's team's kinda full, go and find Chris and Lady and help them. Maybe bring that other chick along as well." Trish nodded and looked at the woman with bright orange hair. "Come on. Try to keep up, I'm not going to slow down for you." The woman looked insulted. "I wouldn't expect you to." Trish smiled. "Good."

Dante stared to walk off. "Come on! Demons wait for no man. They kill them." Helena looked at Dante. "Do you even know where you're going?" Dante looked back at them. "Not a clue." The two agents sighed, while Nero smiled. "Don't worry. This isn't Dante's most careless. If he was careless he'd be at his office right now." Vergil glowered, and started following him. Casting exasperated glances at each other, Leon and Helena followed, guns out, while Dante just strutted ahead, not even caring about whatever lay in the shadows. Vergil just sighed.  _I guess there could me worse things. Like serving under_ him  _again. **That's not nice, Vergil. But don't care about me. Care about what lies ahead. Soon you will meet your maker. Soon.**_

 


	6. Fallen Angel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey hey hey I finally updated look at that.

 Leon stared at the laid back hunter, trying to figure out what exactly Dante wanted to lead them to. Helena seemed to be thinking the same thing, because she stopped and said, “You need to stop leading us around like a chicken with its head cut off. We need to find out where to go.” Vergil, who had been lagging behind, stepped up beside her. “I agree with the human. You’ll get one of them killed.” Dante stopped, and turned, still as relaxed as always, infuriating Leon. “We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. But, for right now, let’s keep going north.” With that, the hunter turned and keep walking.

 Leon exchanged an exasperated glance with Helena. _I feel like we’ve been doing that a lot on just this mission alone._ Vergil let out a loud sigh. “Why do I follow you, Dante?” The Darkslayer said quietly, more to himself than anything. Leon smirked. “I’m asking myself that same question.”

 Dante had vanished behind a building a bit in front of them, and they had to run to catch up. Vergil got ahead of them in seconds, stopped when he rounded the corner, and swore violently. “What’s up?” Leon asked, coming up beside him. “Dante went into that supermarket, the idiot.” Helena ran over, almost pushing over Leon when she stopped, and said, “It might be full of infected or demons. Or both, which is worse. But he deserves to get killed if he’s that reckless.” Vergil smiled. “I’m beginning to like your thinking, human.” The swordmaster started towards the doors of the supermarket. “Let’s hope my brother hasn’t gotten himself in _too_ deep, hm?” Leon nodded, and he and Helena started to follow him.

* * *

 They found Dante in the frozen food isle surrounded by what Vergil called Frosts. However, the Devil Hunter was seemingly ignoring them and holding a box of frozen pizza. Vergil stared to curse loudly, and Helena had to put her hand over his mouth so the Frosts didn’t hear them. Dante looked over and waved. “Hey, Verg! Hey Scott! Hey Helena!” Leon sighed, and then almost yelled as the Frosts lunged at Dante as if they were one. Dante didn’t even react as he was covered in the withering mass of icy bodies. Both Leon and Helena started forward, but Vergil held out his hands in front of them and hissed, “Wait. Dante wants to show off.”

 Leon whipped his head around to snap at Vergil about Dante possibly dying to the Frosts when Dante’s sword, Rebellion, poked upwards from the Frosts with a flash of red electricity. The Devil Hunter swung his sword around, hitting away the demons, and stood up. He didn’t look like Dante, however. He looked more demonic, coat instead a leathery hide and his fingers ending in claws. He had a glowing scar on his chest and his eyes were fierce. But, he smiled that familiar Dante smile at Leon and Helena’s dumbfounded expressions, waved, and leaped back into the fray.

 Leon stared at him for a while longer before muttering,“Is that Dante’s Devil Trigger?” He remembered Dante and Vergil entering a demonic state before, but apparently Dante’s had been in the form of their father, Sparda. Leon had never seen Dante like this before. Vergil nodded. “It is. His Devil Trigger has finally become his true demonic form after all these years. Who knew my brother had it in him?” Both Leon and Helena exchanged confused glances before Helena’s gaze flickered behind Leon and she yelled,“Leon, look out!”

 Leon barely had time to turn around as he felt frozen claws dig into his shoulder and fling him aside. He landed out into the main isle, groaning from the pain. He felt the warmth of this blood sliding down his jacket, and he reached for his gun. Instead of aiming it at the Frost, however, he held it up to his own head. _I’d rather just end it with a bullet to the head._ Chances were that the Frost would kill him before Helena and Vergil could react, anyway, and Dante was busy with his own thing. Preparing to pull the trigger, Leon let out a deep breath, and ignored Helena as she shouted his name.

 Before he could pull the trigger, however, a blade was thrust through the Frost’s gut. As it struggled, it was swung around and flung onto a pile of demonic bodies. It struggled once more, and then fell still, its green blood dripping down its claws.

 Dante crouched down in front of Leon. “What the hell, Leon?” Leon barely had time to register the fact that Dante had called him by his first name before the Devil Hunter transformed back and slid his hand up the back of Leon’s shirt. The agent tried to hide his face as Dante ran his hands over the wound and murmured,“Not too bad. I should be able to heal this.” He met Leon’s gaze. “It’s going to feel weird, but, frankly, it’s better than bleeding out. Got me?” Leon nodded. “I’ve faced worse.” Dante smiled. “I knew you weren’t a wimp. Now stop moving.”

As Leon stilled, he felt a crawling sensation spread across his shoulder. Before he could say anything, however, it disappeared, along with the pain from his shoulder. Dante ran his fingers over the spot and Leon had to focus on not shivering. Dante pulled his hand back.“Good as new! Almost.” He looked at the blood on his hand and wiped it off on his jacket.

 Leon stood up quickly, and glared at him. “I wouldn’t have done that if you hadn’t come here!” Dante shrugged, not even fazed by Leon’s anger. “I was just going to be a minute. You could’ve waited outside.” Leon sighed.“ We followed you because we though you’d be in trouble!” Dante laughed, and started to walk off. “Me? In trouble? Man, do you really know what I am?” Vergil swore again. "Cocky dumbass. You just wanted to show off, like always." Dante smiled again. "How'd you know?" 

 Watching Dante's back, Leon let out an exasperated sigh.  _The little..._ Helena looked back at him. "You coming?" Leon looked at her and walked over. "Yeah, it's just... Dante." Helena smiled. "Yeah, he's something, isn't he? How did you deal with him before?" Leon sighed again. "He was less cocky when I met him. Maybe sealing Mundus did something to his ego." Helena laughed. "I bet it did. Beating the demon emperor? You're going to be hot-headed after that." Leon was about to respond to her, but he walked into someone and stumbled backwards.

 Putting his had on his face, he looked forward. Dante and Vergil both stood in the exit, staring out into the empty parking lot. Before either agent could ask anything, Dante pushed Vergil backwards. A sword cut into Dante's side and sent him flying to the side of the lot. A demonic warrior pulled the sword back, its glowing red eyes glaring at them. Helena, who had been trapped underneath Vergil, grunted. "What is that?" She asked, her voice muffled by Vergil's coat. Vergil got up quickly, and, without a word, drew Yamato and lunged.

 Leon stared at the demon as it began to parry Vergil's attacks. "I remember it. It's Nelo Angelo. A powerful demon and right hand of Mundus." Helena looked at him. "You've fought it before?" He nodded. "Yeah, during that timeline thing. I don't know what it looks like under its armor, but Dante and Vergil seemed to know more than they let on." Helena looked back at the demon, and pulled out her shotgun, Hydra. "Let's go then." Leon held out his hand in front of her. "No, its armor is too strong for human bullets." She looked at him. "What do you mean,  _human_ bullets?" He nodded at Dante, who had started to get up. "Watch." 

 It was always something to watch Dante fight. He pulled out his guns with grace, and began to shoot. The bullets seemed more powerful, as if Dante was charging up each shot before he took it. Both Sparda twins seemed to know what the other was going to do, and before long, they had the demon overpowered. Hitting it in the head with Rebellion, Dante showed no expression as the helmet fell off. Leon stared at the demon's head, as it was the exact same as the twin who had also fought Dante just a couple minutes before. "Vergil." Helena whispered, and both agents stood silent as Vergil cut off his doppelganger's head. 

 Dante sighed, and put away his sword and guns. He looked at Leon sadly. "I'll explain. Come with me." As he walked off, he left the agents and the Darkslayer no choice but to follow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're tired of Dante and Leon's POVs don't worry, I'm changing it next chapter.


	7. Partners

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well I'm back (for now). I've just been super busy. I've also gotten Resident Evil Revelations, REmake's HD rerelease, Zero's rerelease, Operation Raccoon City, and, more recently, Resident Evil 4, so I've been busy with those, too. 
> 
> Sometime around when this chapter is uploaded (before or after), you might notice that this fic has/will be added to a series, because I'm planning on possibly doing two more in a kinda trilogy about this crossover. If I do end up doing a sequel, there will be a third one for sure, so look out for that when this is finished (whenever it is).

 Fighting zombies were one thing, but demons were an entirely different manner.

 Shooting a Hell Pride in the head, Chris quickly turned around to shoot a Hell Envy approaching from behind. He thought about the last time he fought demons, ages ago. Demons were a lot like B.O.W.s, except B.O.W.s were made in laboratories and, if they could be controlled, fought to their creators’ wishes, while demons fought with an ancient hatred, that, as far as he knew, had no controller. Both him and Jill had gotten pretty good at fighting them together, and he’d do anything to have her at his side right now. The thought sent a pang through him, and he hoped he’d be able to find her soon.

 A bullet sailed by his head, hitting the forehead of the last Hell Pride. It collapsed into sand, which drifted off into the wind. Trish walked over to him, smirking. “The way Dante talked about you, you didn’t seem like the distracted type. What’s up?”

 Trish had joined Lady and him shortly before the Hell Prides and Envies showed up. She explained that Nero had ended up finding a mercenary named Jake Muller and a random citizen named Sparrow, and since Jake had seemed to want to stay with Sherry, Dante suggested she go find them. Chris was glad she did. She could hold more than her own in a fight, which was great in something like this.

 “My partner, we got split up during a demon attack,” Chris told her, exactly what he told Lady, “I’m not sure if she was injured or not, because I heard her scream.” Trish shook her head. “If you two got split up, there’s a chance that she’s dead. Demons tend to go after lone, injured prey.” Chris bristled. _Jill is_ not _prey_. “She survived the Arklay mansion, Raccoon City, the Queen Zenobia, and Wesker’s experimenting. A demon can’t kill her. Never.”

 Trish looked like she was going to argue, but Lady walked between them. “Fighting between ourselves is the last thing we want right now,” she said, giving both of them a stern look, and asked Chris, “Where did you last see her?” Chris closed his eyes, trying to remember. “I think I noticed her fleeing into a building before I was forced to run. But it’s not like that helps, does it?” He added, angrily, opening his eyes. “You know her skills, Lady. She could be just about anywhere.” Lady nodded. “I doubt she also make it easy for anyone to find her, too.” Trish, who had been scanning their surroundings, looked over. “Well, if she’s alive and injured, there would be a storm of both zombies and demons following the scent of her blood. So all we have to do is find a suspicious horde, and bingo.” Lady rolled her eyes. “Yes, but it could also be them hunting another survivor who isn’t as armed or experienced as us.”

 Chris saw her point, but they had to try. For Jill’s sake. “It wouldn’t do any harm. I’d rather continue my mission while I have my partner back.” Lady sighed. “Fine. But if this turns into a wild goose chase…” “It won’t,” Trish said. “Trust me.” Lady nodded, and they both started off into a nearby alley. Chris lagged behind, and tried to contact Jill again. He let out a frustrated growl as the line stayed dead. _Where ever you are, Jill, I’ll find you. I promise._

* * *

 Jill was tired, bleeding, and barely able to keep running to avoid the stupid things chasing her, and the zombies trying to intercept her. It reminded her a bit of Raccoon City, but instead of Nemesis it was a horde of blood-thirsty demons on her ass. She and Chris had been surprised by a group of about 10 demons, and in the scramble Jill had both lost her comm and had one of the demons had dug its claws deep into her thigh. She managed to find a curtain to wrap around the wound in the building she fled into, but blood had quickly soaked the fabric.

 A screech sounded behind her, and Jill knew that those demons had caught up. She tried to pick up the pace, pulling out her handgun while doing so. Two reptilian shapes bounded by her, and jumped in front of her, cutting off her path. Four more had come over, taking up places around her to prevent her from running. Cursing, Jill aimed at the helmeted head of one of the demons, angry that she hadn’t been more careful. _If I had, I’d be away from them in a heartbeat._

 The demons reminded her of Hunters, except their only real similarity were the claws and reptile features. Hunters were bulkier and more human-like in appearance, but these looked like a mixture of velociraptors and lizards that someone had decided to arm with shields and helmets. They stalked towards her, knowing as well as her that she wouldn’t escape this one.

 A haughty laugh came from the hole in the floor above her, and the demons stopped, looking up at the hole. A young man, maybe in his late teens or early twenties, leaped down between the demons, smiling. One of the demons went over to him, and, to Jill's amazement, they allowed him to pet it. He turned his slate grey eyes to her, and laughed again. "Jill Valentine, I presume? You've done well, getting away from the Assaults for as long as you did. I should congratulate you." 

 Jill stared at him, confused, and said, "Thanks, I guess...?" The man's smile widened, and he seemed to be thoroughly enjoying himself. "You were infected twice, weren't you?" he asked, stalking around her, his dead eyes sending a chill up her spine.  _Who is this kid?_ "How do you know that?" The man stopped in front of her, and said with a smirk, "I have a....  _friend_ who told me a lot about you. What was it like, hm? The power the virus gave you, and the rush you felt while infected?" Jill grit her teeth. Pain was searing up her leg, but that wasn't what annoyed her. It was the longing her body felt, the longing for the power P30 had given her. He had been able to do stuff she'd never be able to do otherwise, except it had come at a price. "The t-Virus was painful, not powerful. I could feel it taking over my body, killing me," she said cautiously, "But P30 was something else. Something I can't describe."  _I couldn't even control myself, so I can barely remember anything else about it,_ she added silently. 

 Voices, faint but recognizable, echoed outside the building. Jill's heart lifted. _Chris!_ The man swore, and called his demons. They came, and he started to walk off. "I'll get what I need from you later. Right now, enjoy my _favourite_ play thing. You'll remember him." He waved, but stopped as Jill called out, "What's your name?" He turned, grey eyes glinting as he said simply, "Blake."

* * *

 Jill standing still, staring off at the man who walked off, surrounded by demons. Trish started after him, but Lady called her back. "He's leaving. Besides, we'll find them again soon, I'm sure." 

 Chris jogged over to his partner, eyes drifting to the bloody curtain on her thigh. "You're hurt." He said simply, stupidly. Jill smiled ruefully. "Thanks, Captain Obvious." He turned away from him, and started to limp around, causing Chris to flinch. "You should rest. That looks bad." She ignored him, staring around. Cursing her pride, he watched as she stopped looking and gave an angry shrug. "He said he'd send someone in, but no one's here. Liar."

 She barely finished as a human jumped down from the floor above. But humans didn't have arms with claws, edged with dark crystals, crackling with electricity. They didn't have scars on the side of their face that made half their face look like a demon's. Jill pulled out her Beretta, and he heard Trish and Lady also readying for battle, but Chris stared at the familiar face, a face he thought he'd left behind forever in a flooding oil rig. "Piers." 


	8. Hell Gates

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to make this chapter in Nero's POV, but since I can't find it in myself to find a fluid start I just gave it up for next chapter.

 Leading the way into the hotel that sat across from the store, Dante tried to ignore his troubled thoughts. That was Nelo Angelo, no doubt about it, but why the hell it was here when Vergil was walking behind him was beyond him. He sat heavily down on one of the chairs in the lobby, and glanced over at Leon. He still looked somewhat confused, and Dante couldn’t blame him. The hunter gestured at the couches that sat across the small coffee table and said, “Come on, sit. Ain’t nothing going to kill you here.” Leon glared at him, staying where he was and moving one of his hands to his gun. Dante gestured again, not breaking eye contact. “Seriously. Any zombies will be drawn to the smell of Nelo Angelo’s blood and be busy munching on him, while there are no demons here.” With another glare, the agent sat down, leaning forward and putting his face in his hands. His partner sat beside him, hand still on her gun. Vergil, stiff as he was, stayed standing up a distance away.

 Annoyed with his brother, he didn’t even get the chance to begin when Leon slammed his hand down the coffee table. “What the _hell_ was that hesitation, Dante? And what was that _thing_ that attacked us?” Dante chuckled, somewhat enjoying the agent’s attention. Leon seemed to drive him mad, and he loved the challenge of chasing something he couldn’t catch. Something being the veteran agent in this case. “No patience, eh? I was just going to start.

 "Anyway, that thing is a constrict demon called Nelo Angelo. I met with him three times on Mallet Island. He was a stubborn son of a bitch, but also quiet honourable.” He gestured lazily back at his brother, who was studying their surroundings. “Like that moron, to be exact.” Calling him moron seemed to make Vergil pissed, but Dante could care less. “And if you couldn’t piece two and two together from that, Nelo Angelo was a constrict body Mundus made for my brother after he lost in battle.”

 “Why it was here I have no clue,” Vergil said, his cold voice startling Dante. He walked over silently, drew Yamato and began to study it. “Must be something to do with whatever’s going on here. Someone made another Nelo Angelo, as that armor was made from different material than the armor I wore. Mine was demonic craft like Yamato. That one’s armor was crystal."

He pulled a small shard out of his pocket and threw it on the table. Dante picked it up and began to study it. He could feel demonic energy coming from it, but it didn't look like it just froze, like ice. More like someone, some human, made it. He put it in his pocket, and smirked at Leon's audible huff. "You'll get a chance to look at it later. But that energy reminds me of the reason I went into that store in the first place." He got up and started to walk off, ignoring Leon's cry of anger and Helena calling after him. Vergil just sighed and began to follow.

* * *

 Walking back towards the frozen food section, he stepped over Leon's blood calmly, ignored the destruction the fight with the Frosts had caused, focusing on the demonic energy he could feel coming from the back room. He stood in the same spot he stood before the attack, and nodded. 

 "What are you doing?" Leon hissed, grabbing his shoulder and pulling him off balance. Steadying himself easily, he started to look around, ignoring Leon's question. "Where's the door to the backroom?" He asked his brother, who had the dawning realization of what Dante was doing.  _Finally!_  

 Vergil walked off, and called out a bit later. Dante started towards Vergil's voice, but Leon cut him off. "Answer my question," he growled, and Dante saw how tired the agent was. His near death experience with the Frosts must have weakened him, and he looked paler than normal. Struggling to not show his worry, Dante just pat him on the shoulder, walked past him and said, "You'll see, if you follow me." He could tell Leon and Helena had exchanged an annoyed glance behind him, but he honestly didn't care. Driving Leon up the wall was entertaining, considering that the agent was usually so calm in situations like this.

 Vergil stood by the door, smirking. "That human giving you trouble, Dante? I can teach him a lesson." Dante shook his head. "Leon's probably learned enough lessons throughout his career." _I know how you feel about humans, and I don't want you to touch him. He's already nearly died once today,_ he added silently. Pulling out his guns, he kicked the door in. Just as expected, a Frost not drawn to the fight leaped at him, but he easily took it out with a kick and a couple shots to the head as it lay dazed. He glanced over his shoulder to Leon and Helena, gestured to the fallen Frost and said, "You might wanna keep your guns out, just in case." Walking into the backroom, he noticed a disfigured human body laying in the corner, the rips in its skin edged with ice, its blood frozen on the ground. Clearly the work of Frosts. Walking farther in, he rounded a corner and smiled, finding what he was looking for. A hole lay in the floor, with claw marks from the Frosts crawling out of it marking the tile around it. It was edged with the same crystals that Nelo Angelo's armor was made out of, and Dante crouched down for a better look.

 Vergil crouched beside him and said, more to himself, "More crystals." Dante let out a small sound of affirmation as Leon and Helena rounded the corner. Before either could ask, Dante just held up a hand and said, "Hell Gate." Both look confused, so he added, "Gates to Hell, obviously. Where the demons come from? They don't just teleport here, you know." Leon just threw his hands up. "Now I've seen everything."

 Dante glanced at his brother. "Oh, wise Son of Sparda, heir to his power, how shall we close this?" Vergil let out a soft growl and snarled, "Give me that crystal." Dante pulled it out of his pocket and gave it to him. "Sure, if you want it." Vergil fiddled with it for a moment, before held it over the gate. "Get back. I have no idea if it'll get bigger or not." Dante stood up and backed away, not mentioning that, if it did get bigger, Vergil would probably fall in. But, Vergil had already made his stance heard on which brother got to stay in Hell or not. And, despite everything, was sticking to it. 

  Vergil closed his eyes, and the crystal started to react with the crystals around it. Soon, the gate started to shrink. Before long, it closed. Standing up, Vergil, eyes betraying his wonder, handed Dante the crystal. "That worked." Dante took it and laughed. "Next time, try to seem _less_ surprised." Vergil scowled, which made him laugh harder. Turning to walk towards the emergency exit, he slowed his gait when he heard the flap of wings. Huge wings. Leon and Helena exchanged another glance-this time confused- as Vergil pushed past Dante and went out the door. Standing in the doorway, Dante saw a huge, hauntingly familiar shadow fly over. Walking out of the shelter of the store, he laughed again.  _It's a fucking Mallet Island reunion._

 He looked up and threw up his arms. "I thought I told you to flock off, feather face?"


	9. Thunderstruck

 Nero stormed down the abandoned street, angry. He worked better alone. Dante _knew_ that; yet he grouped him up anyway, with people who didn’t have the same prowess as him no less. He could be gone, run through the hordes, kill them with a flick of his sword and a shot of his gun, but in his gut he knew he couldn’t leave the humans. If Trish was still with the group, maybe he could’ve and left her to babysit, but her and Dante had agreed that, now that Nero’s group had gotten bigger, she’d go help Chris and Lady. He breathed out a growl.

 A hand was laid on his shoulder and he jumped, too lost in thought to notice that Jake walked up. The mercenary grinned a wild grin, and gestured over to where Sparrow and Sherry were staring at a heavily damaged office tower. “While you were spacing out, we heard a scream from that building.” Nero scoffed, and glanced at the building. His skin prickled, and in the moment afterwards he heard the crackling of electricity, like when Trish charged up her power and let it out in a single beam. _Which could mean that it’s just Trish. So, no biggie, right? She'd handle it._  He was about to decide against going in when they heard someone yell, “Piers! It’s me! Your captain! Don’t you remember me!?”

 Realization dawned on Jake’s face, fear and worry on Sherry’s, and absolute terror on Sparrow’s. Jake started to run towards the building until Sherry pulled him back. They argued briefly, before they both turned to him. “You coming or what?” Jake asked, barely able to hide the excitement in his voice that seemed to piss Sherry off. Nero shrugged, and sighed. “Fine, but if you die it’s not my fault.” Jake shrugged. “Sure, whatever. If I'm dead I can't blame you.” He turned back and ran into the building, Sherry following close behind. Nero walked up to where Sparrow was still frozen in terror and lay his Devil Bringer on her shoulder. “Hey, it’s fine. Trust me. I’ve fought demons ten times worse than anything that ‘Piers’ is.” Sparrow glanced at his hand, and than met his gaze. “No, it’s not that…” She trailed off, shaking off his hand. “Let’s just go.”

* * *

 There was a strong stench of blood in the room that made Nero flinch as he walked in. _Fucking demon senses,_ he thought angrily. He stopped when he took in the scene of the fight. Most of the blood stench was coming from a woman who was laying on the ground, a curtain wrapped around her thigh and her shoulder bleed profusely. _She must’ve been the one who screamed._ Lady and Trish were standing in front of her, guarding her from several suits of armor that were eerily familiar to Nero. With a jolt, he realized that they were Bianco Angelos, which were supposed to have stopped production after Agnus’ death. But, he noted, their armor was different, edged in crystals, as was their skin.

 A man, who looked as old as Jake, was fighting Chris. 'Fighting’ wasn’t really the word, however. Chris was just trying to get out of the way of the man’s relentless attacks, calling out for Piers again and again. The man’s right arm was completely demonic, crystals as scales and claws, which seemed to be the source of the man’s electric attacks. His right eye was covered with a deep scar.

 Sparrow took one look around the room and fled back outside, panicked. Jake, however, let out a hoot and ran over to Chris, shooting the demon-man in the human shoulder. He let out a grunt and stumbled back, turning his attention to the mercenary. Jake smirked, aiming at the man’s ravaged face. “Well well well look who it is. I was disappointed when you died and we didn’t get to have that fight you promised. But I guess you always keep your promises, don’t you Piers?”

 Nero was about to join in and help when Trish called him over. Sherry was already crouched over the woman Trish had been protecting, pulling out some gauze and wrapping it around her arm. Trish welcomed him with a pat on his shoulder, gesturing at the discarded armor on the ground. "Do you know if any Order member would still create those things?" She asked, and Nero shrugged. "Probably not. The Hell Gate's gone and Agnus was the only one who knew how." Trish nodded. "What about Alto Angelos?" 

 "I haven't seen any..." he trailed off when he noticed what Lady was fighting. He thought it was the last Bianco Angelo, but it's armor, still edged with crystals, was more gold. It swung its sword over her head, and, without flinching, she shot it in the chest with the Kalina Ann, blasting off its head. Lowering her gun, she turned to Trish and said, grimly, "All clear over here for now." Nero ran over to the fallen armor and grabbed the helmet. There was no doubt about it, it  _was_ an Alto Angelo, but that meant someone had to go through the Ascension Ceremony. _But who? How?_

 The demon Chris was fighting let out a strangled cry, and Nero looked over long enough to see him holding his head. Dropping the helmet and grabbing the Red Queen of his back, he decided it was time for this guy to start talking. About the invasion, the infection, the Biancos and Alto, all of it. He charged, ignoring Chris' call to get him to stand down, and swung the Red Queen into the left side of his chest. A piece of paper fell out of the pocket in his vest, but Nero ignored it, driving his sword deeper. "What the hell is going on here, huh? Tell me!" The demon just growled, blood bubbling at his lips, as he grabbed Nero's blade with his demonic hand. He let a charge go through the blade, stunning Nero, and he pulled the sword out and threw him away.

 Nero lay where he landed, still stunned, as the demon put his hand over the wound. Letting out another growl, he left through the hole in the floor above, leaving drops of blood on the ground. Staying on the ground for a second more, he grabbed the Red Queen. Using it to brace himself, he stood up and walked over to the paper that fell on the ground and picked it up. Unfolding it, it appeared to be a diary page.

* * *

  _August 4, 2013_

 _The new demon I made is strong, but he hesitates on_ _occasion. Maybe there's still some leftover infection in his body that wants to do its own thing, but it's probably his soul. Damn. I wanted a electric warrior, not a hero. Blake says I should probably increase the demonic power in his body to subdue his valiant spirit, but what good would it do otherwise? I_ _purposely chose to keep him in a more human form because I wanted to see the look on his face. Too much energy would change that. His body was also a lucky find, in a sunken oil rig from the Lanshiang outbreak a little more than a month ago._

_If I use too much energy, I'll get exhausted for several days, and I'll need to rest like last time. Blake still needs to realize I wasn't created with these powers like him. They were a 'gift' from greed. I can't just continuously use them on a daily basis because my body feeds off them. They're the only thing keeping me alive at this point, I suspect. Plus, I need this energy for the doppelgangers I'm making, not soldiers who won't do what they're told. Maybe I'll just get Blake to train him until his heroic soul realizes that resistance is futile, while I also continue my research into harnessing souls and putting them into constrict bodies. The harnessing I can do. The putting them into a body they're not used to, no._

_Hey, Dark Emperor, if you're reading this (which you probably are. You know everything about what happens around here), maybe give me a hand? At least once? I can get the soul, you can make the body. A friendly little trade, what do you say?_

* * *

No sign of who wrote it. Nero stuffed it in his pocket. It was from around three years ago, which meant that demon, Piers, had been trapped in his own body for a long time.  _Maybe I can free him._  He shook his head at the thought. It would be impossible to reverse something like that. _Right?_

Glancing at Chris, who was talking to Jake, he considered telling him about the journal entry, but he decided to hold it off. The injured woman needed their attention first.


End file.
